Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.

Coming up on today’s program

• China's NEV makers post record H1 deliveries amid robust domestic and overseas demand;
• Hong Kong IPO market surges in H1, with funds raised up 688%.

Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours

Several Chinese new-energy vehicle (NEV) manufacturers have reported record-breaking deliveries for the first half of 2025, underscoring the sector's continued growth momentum despite intensifying competition.

BYD, China’s largest NEV maker, delivered 382,585 vehicles globally in June, which marked a new high for the year and represented a 10.5 percent increase year-over-year. Exports surged to 90,049 vehicles, more than tripling from June 2024 and marking the seventh consecutive month of record overseas sales.

In the first half of 2025, BYD sold over 2.1 million passenger cars, up 31.5 percent from the prior year. 

XPeng delivered 34,611 vehicles in June, up 224 percent year-on-year. The company delivered a total of 103,181 vehicles in the second quarter, setting a new quarterly record. In the first half, XPeng's cumulative deliveries reached 197,189 units, surpassing its full-year total for 2024.

Zeekr sold 43,000 vehicles in June, bringing total sales in the first half to 244,877 units, which is a jump of 14.5 percent from a year earlier. The Geely-backed premium NEV brand has forayed into over 60 international markets, with more than 1,200 stores across the world, serving nearly 2 million customers.

Leapmotor, a Chinese NEV start-up, reported deliveries of 48,000 vehicles in June, a new monthly record and a year-on-year increase of more than 138 percent. Its total deliveries for the first half reached 221,700 units, thanks to the company's ongoing overseas expansion efforts.

Xiaomi Auto, the EV arm of the consumer electronics giant, reported deliveries of more than 25,000 vehicles in June, just days after debuting its second model - the YU7, an all-electric SUV that bagged 240,000 orders in the first 18 hours of pre-orders on June 26.

Nio said its June deliveries rose 17.5 percent year-on-year to 24,925 vehicles, bringing cumulative deliveries in the first half to 785,714 units.

Dongfeng Motor's high-end smart EV brand Voyah also posted solid results, delivering 10,053 units last month, up 83 percent from a year earlier.

While Li Auto's shipments plunged 24 percent in June from a year earlier to 36,279 vehicles. The firm delivered 111,074 autos in the second quarter, bringing its first-half deliveries to 1.3 million units.

Although overall growth in new vehicle sales is slowing, the NEV penetration rate in China is expected to rise further, driven by government-backed consumer incentives, technological innovation, and improving brand perception, industry analysts noted.

According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, NEV production and sales in China both jumped more than 30 percent year-on-year in May, with the monthly penetration rate reaching a record high of 48.7 percent.

GBA express

• In the first half of 2025, the Hong Kong IPO market boomed, according to data from Wind. A total of 43 IPO projects were completed, up 13 projects year-on-year. The total funds raised reached HKD106.7 billion, up 688 percent and exceeding the full-year total of HKD88.15 billion in 2024. As of June 30, there were 220 companies in the IPO queue, a significant rise from the same period last year. There were only 80 listing applications throughout 2024. According to consulting and accounting firm PwC, Hong Kong is on track to regain its position as the world’s top spot in global IPOs this year.
• The Hong Kong Monetary Authority ramped up purchases of the city’s currency as it sought to defend a peg that has been strained by volatility in the greenback. The HKMA bought HKD20.02 billion after indicative pricing suggested the local dollar breached the upper end of its permitted trading range in late New York trading. That’s more than double the HKD9.42 billion it bought last week.
• Hong Kong plans to roll out a scheme this year that will allow cars in Guangdong to enter the city's urban areas. This came as Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan met her counterparts in Guangzhou on Monday to discuss details of the Southbound Travel for Guangdong Vehicles Scheme.

Industry and company news

• Baidu Search today rolled out its biggest update in a decade, upgrading its search bar to a “smart box” supporting text inputs of over 1,000 words and adding enhanced photo, voice, and video queries. Users can now directly access AI tools, such as text and image generation, from the search interface.
• Taobao announced today that it will issue CNY50 billion in subsidies for consumers and merchants over a 12-month period starting immediately. The spending incentives on Taobao's "flash purchase" feature will take the form of red envelopes – a digital form of traditional cash gifts – as well as discounts on products, deliveries and commissions, it added.
• The sale of power banks without the 3C certification is prohibited in Huaqiangbei, the world’s biggest electronics market in Shenzhen, media reports today, citing vendors. The local market supervision authority had fined some vendors for selling non-3C certification power banks. Since June 28, only power banks with the 3C logo can be taken aboard flights, following a ban by China's Civil Aviation Administration.
• BYD rolled out its first vehicle from its Brazilian plant yesterday. It took the Chinese carmaker only 15 months to build the passenger car factory as part of a BRL5.5 billion (USD1 billion) project in Camacari, with annual output expected to reach 150,000 NEVs while creating 20,000 jobs.
• China opened 117 international air cargo routes in the first half of the year, adding more than 233 round-trip flights per week, according to the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing. Major shipments included cross-border e-commerce goods, electronic products, auto parts, and fresh food.
• Cities in China will allocate over CNY570 million in subsidies to boost summer consumption, Xinhua reported. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism will launch a nationwide campaign from July to August to introduce seasonal cultural and tourism products and activities, while local governments will give additional incentives such as consumption vouchers, ticket discounts, spend-and-save offers, and discounted packages.

Asia-Pacific highlights

• Inbound tourism has recovered to 70 percent to 80 percent of the pre-pandemic levels, with Southeast Asian visitors resuming the fastest and Shanghai being among the top destinations, according to Trip.Com. The online travel agency sees a future boost of USD100 to USD200 billion in inbound travel.
• Air China yesterday launched its first international flight using the domestically developed C909 jet. The route offers seven round-trip flights weekly between Hohhot, the capital of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and Mongolia's capital Ulaanbaatar. 
• TikTok launched its e-commerce service TikTok Shop in Japan on Monday that enables users to buy products directly through videos, marking the app’s entry into its 17th global market. The company has also been expanding its e-commerce operations with launches in France, Germany and Italy earlier this year.

Editor: LI Yanxia

Host: Stephanie LI

Writer: Stephanie LI

Sound Editor: Stephanie LI

Graphic Designer: ZHENG Wenjing, LIAO Yuanni

Produced by 21st Century Business Herald Dept. of Overseas News.

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